A few months ago I started having different issues. It was not until today that I have enough time to sit and check carefully all the issues and send a ticket to Elektron.
Main volume knob makes audible noise, clicks when I turn from 2 - 3 o’clock position to its max position. It doesn’t affect to individual tracks, only to master channel.
The device freezes constantly (constantly means almost every single day no matter which project and no matter if OB is open in Ableton or the 2 machines are playing without computer connection) and became unresponsive, so I have to switch off/on and sometimes I lose the settings before the freeze. I have the last firmware.
When I switch off and on again, switching on doesn’t work well, it becomes off. It makes an attempt to switch on (screen on quickly) but suddenly switch off again, so I have to repeat the process a few times until it works.
A weird thing happens in the master AMP page, it took me weeks to figure out where it comes from. Sometimes when the device is playing, I notice radical changes in volume, distortion, weird noises, etc. So yesterday I figured it out that the knobs of distortion and compressor are moving without me touching anything (specially the distortion symmetry and distortion amount). I can even see the knob moving in the screen, as if an automation were recorded. but there was not recorded anything. This is happening randomly.
Many times, when I move/play from patterns in the same project, strange things happens: I hear lot of noises, glitches, different sound/sample settings (even different samples!), sometimes long delay feedbacks or high amount of distortion/compressor levels, which can destroy my ears. It last for a few seconds, or until I play stop twice and play again. After this, the pattern/kit/and everything else play as it should be, as I programmed.
I know this is a common issue, but pads are really hard to play with sensitivity, and some of them are becoming unresponsive. Noticed that happens mostly when playing chromatic, performance mode, and mute mode. Some people says you have to wait a few weeks from purchase date to make then softer responsiveness, but this never happened.
I sent them a ticket, so hopefully they repair this 1.700€ faulty machine or offer me a replacement. I saw in this forum that there was a few batches with manufacturing issues.
I love my Rytm MK2, but in the last days our human-machine relation ship is going through a crisis
I had some of the same bugs as you when I got a AR mk2 not long after they came out.
Worst thing was the pad behaviour, mutes magically muting and unmuting themselves, the list went on.
I returned mine and swapped for a different drum machine from a different brand. Never looked back.
I hope you get your ticket resolved quickly. Good luck.
You should def get it checked out, because those issues make the machine practically unusable as far as I’m concerned…
Luckily, I’ve never had any of those issues with my AR,except for the fact that the pads aren’t great with sensitivity on low velocity. But your AR shouldn’t behave that way, it’s not the way they’re supposed to be for sure.
Yes, it’s becoming very annoying to the point of thinking to switch to another brand, but its sound and possibilities are not easy to find in other machines. My workflow is not fluid as it used to be. It is also a block for creativity, a battle.
Never had any issue with the A4 MK2
I’m already doing several backups and saving everything from each project, in case they replace it for a new one (hopefully) or fix this one.
They replied few days ago. Have to send the machine for warranty repair of hardware issues. They said most of glitches, noises, AMP page weird behavior, etc. looks software related. But I did some factory resets and starting projects from zero and most of the issues are still there.
Ultimately, they also said that due to the deep MIDI possibilities the Rytm has, it could be something like MIDI feedback. But what’s this response coming from their high-end product? I never had any similar issue with any drum machine/synth/sampler/fx unit in 10 years. And my current setup it’s just A4 + AR without any complex MIDI settings.
I think they possibly mean due to the number of channels and notes/CC’s it responds to, it could be some midi being sent from the computer causing (perhaps, some of) the issues, so it does not really have any bearing on whether it is a high end product or not.
There were definitely some hardware issues with some batches, I have a grey one and still occasionally get the pads cal message, I have also had the not coming on problem when power cycling, but this is because I did it too quickly, leaving it 10 seconds or so and it works fine. I think this is due to memory not clearing if rebooting too quickly.
